Pfizer shareholders approach FIPB
Pfizer India's minority shareholders have sought an audience with the FIPB to present their case against the setting up of a new wholly-owned subsidiary by Pfizer Inc of the US. In a letter to the board, the Pfizer Minority Shareholder Association has said that concurrence from institutional investors and minority shareholders must be taken before granting approval for the subsidiary.

RIL PTA case adjourned for 21st time
The CBI prosecutor on Wednesday failed to turn up at the 3rd Metropolitan court where two cases were to be heard against Reliance patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani and othersin connection with the alleged forgery of LCs in the import of 80,000 tonnes of PTA in 1985. The chargesheets in the cases were filed in 1996. The CBI counsel from New Delhi could not attend the court, as he could not get a train ticket to Mumbai. This is the 21st adjournment of the case.

Kalam is principal scientific advisor
APJ Abdul Kalam, scientific advisor to the defence minister, was on Thursday appointed principal scientific adivsor to the Government of India and accorded the rank of a Cabinet minister.

World Bank chief economist to quit
World Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz, a respected analyst whose blunt comments often infuriated Washington's financial establishment, announced plans to quit on Wednesday and said he wanted, at last, to be free to speak his mind.

Discounts cut on Zen diesel
Maruti dealers have slashed discounts for the Zen diesel from Rs 40,000 to Rs 3,000 following the company's recent move to reduce the car's price by 10 per cent.Consequently, there has been no change in the Mumbai on-road price of the Zen-D, which continues to be Rs 4.4 lakh.

Lupin recast plan
Lupin Laboratories has taken up a major organisational restructuring to create a flat and lean organisation, chairman Deshbandhu Gupta said at the company's 26th AGM. "The company plans to rope in a renowned consultancy firm to further sharpen its global strategy," Gupta said.pHCL Tech IPO at Rs 580
The book-building part of HCL Technologies' IPO has been oversubscribed 27 times, generating a book size of around Rs 20,100 crore. On Thursday, the firm fixed the price at Rs 580 per share of Rs 4 each.

Change in BSE trading timings
The BSE has made some changes in the trading timings for Friday and also advanced the badla session by a day to Friday evening. The changes have been made to facilitate a mock trading session on Saturday to test its new Y2K-compliant systems. On Friday, the market will open at 9.30 am, and close at 2.00 pm.

Sifycloses at new high
Boosted by Merrill Lynch's recommendations for a `near-term accumulation', the Satyam Infoway ADR had gone up by almost $6 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday and closed at a new high of $79.5. On Thursday, the domestic market was abuzz with rumours of a probable 8 per cent stake sale by the promoters to one of the world's software majors for Rs 450 crore.

Deutsche Bank picks 2.4% in NSDL
Deutsche Bank on Thursday said it has picked up a 2.4 per cent stake in the National Securities Depository Ltd from Unit Trust of India.

Compiled by S Hariharan